1moreroad

FWIW I have 48k miles on a 2015. I do a LOT of commuting (this year 100% of my mileage ), rarely hit 7k rpms commuting, and rarely get to redline period with no issues. I didn't buy the run your engine hard requirement. It might be better to use the whole rev range but I don't think it's a requirement. I always run 91 unless they run out.

KTM seem to be the most popular. I have Givis that (1) have more coverage than stock (2) fit perfectly, no mods and (3) fit with the windshield. Twisted Throttle and RevZilla show backorder but I'm guessing that they're out of production. Maybe eBay? https://twistedthrottle.com/shop/uncategorized/givi-hand-guard-deflectors-for-yamaha-fj09-15-17/

Welcome. What a collection. I grew up in Ellicott City. Used to really like the bread at the Olney Ale House.

I have never had a hole small enough to be patched by 1 rope plug. I did stuff 3 plugs into 1 hole to ride a bike very, very gently home about 2 miles. My last hole (fortunately the 2nd hole) was so big that I could fit my pinky in it. Very bored and waiting for my son to come pick me up with the truck, I stuffed 3 or 4 plugs into the hole and tried to air it up. Didn't work and most of the plugs just fell out of the tire.

As far as I can tell, the harder stuff like the valve adjust seems to have been done right. They were a week late returning the bike to me even when I scheduled the work so I think they rushed the reassembly.

TLDR - I found the oil leak, and a dealership created quite a few problems rushing reassembly of the FJ after a valve service. Long story - The Memphis BMW Yamaha dealer did so many things wrong when they reassembled my bike after the 2nd valve service. Unfortunately it was all under plastic so I didn't find the 1st problem for about a month - long enough to not go back to them. They cracked plastics, bent and pulled wires, crimped breather hoses and routed them wrong. I thought I had found all of the problems. Starting about a month ago, I saw what I thought was chain lube all over the kickstand switch and heel plate area. I thought I had been a little overeager on lube combined with rain and road spray to spread it. 2 weeks a ago I saw a single drop of oil under the bike. Wiped it up and checked 24 hours later - no oil. Then the moto sits for 1.5 weeks while we were out of town and I find 3 or 4 drops of oil under the bike and more oil all over the kill switch. From the forum I thought it was the countershaft seal so I pulled the plastics and dropped the skidplate - and the left rear screw of the oil pan came out with it. It looks like that screw was barely hand tight and slowly seeping oil. 😠 I thought I had found all of the problems but obviously not. So now I'll pull the plastics and go through as many cables, wires, hoses, and plastic parts that I can reach to see what else is messed up. I enjoy riding. I don't take any pleasure in wrenching. I do it because it's necessary to ride. So for more major jobs that require some practice to get right, I am willing to pay to outsource the work. It is very disappointing that a dealer could f*** up simple assembly in so many ways.

I liked my Roadsmart 4s, but I do a lot of commuting. I get almost 9k miles put of Roadsmart 3s compared to just over 6k miles out of the rear 4 I rode. Thinking about Mutants for the maybe 5%-10% gravel my fun rides always seem to include but they probably won't get the mileage of the 3s.

Was the new battery fully charged? What's the voltage of the battery before/after connecting it to the bike? Did it have the water added? I thought even some AGM batteries are shipped inactive and need to be activated before use.

My dad told me that when it got too easy to drag pegs on highway ramps just riding to work he sold the bike. Funny enough that was a Yamaha triple. My dad always had 1 toy so he traded the moto in on a Jeep, later a boat, and after the boat on a Kawi Vulcan 800 maybe 15 years after the Yamaha. Speaking of dragging - I rode the Vulcan 1 winter so my dad didn't have to put it into storage for the winter (I had a 250 at the time and the Vulcan was a much better winter commuter). The Vulcan was a comfortable highway cruiser with low floorboards. The opposite of my dad, if I didn't drag the floorboards by the time I got home, I made sure to ride a particular traffic circle where I always dragged them (at just 20 mph or so).

Steepest was about 20% grade. It was not a fast ride. A new-to-me 2020 Salsa Warbird bought from another bicyclist I've been riding with for the past year. He's built it up really nicely. I've got a set of road wheels on order with the plan that this will replace both my Specialized Tarmac and frankenbike gravel bike (Specialized Carve frame with flared drop bars and a mix of road and mountain parts including 105 11 speed shifters and XT 10 speed derailleurs) with just a wheel swap. It was lucky I brought the Warbird because even though the maps and Ride with GPS showed 100% paved, it was about 50% paved for the weekend.

Crowley's Ridge is fun. Cross at Helena instead of Memphis and ride up through the National Forest then the Ridge roughly parallels AR-1 just a little to the east. Good way to get to Jonesboro. There is also a lot of good riding on Farm to Market roads west of Cape Girardeau between the AR-MO state line and Tom Sauk state park.

I was up there on 2 wheels last weekend, too, around Mountain View. A little different experience.

Spotted today. Was it anyone here?

I think the old Bell ad about buying a cheap helmet for a cheap head was put out back in the days before we had good safety standards. And make no mistake, my Klim helmet is more comfortable for rides over an hour than this LS2. As I explained earlier I had to have a solution for riding into the sun both ways commuting. This was my way to try out an adv helmet without spending $700+ on a premium helmet if it didn't solve my problem.

Way oversimplification and doesn't consider other safety factors. The new helmet is ECE22.05 compliant which is the same standard that my main 4 year old Klim TK1200 helmet meets. And any helmet that doesn't have a peak creates a safety issue commuting east every morning and west every afternoon.